Matthew Morris Salon launches men’s grooming with show and party

The most dapper of Denver’s male hipster population on Saturday night clipped on their tie bars, styled their pompadours and came out to celebrate the grand opening of the MENSDEPT inside Matthew Morris Salon and Skincare.

The sharp South Broadway salon was packed wingtip-to-wingtip with the best dressed members of the Baker District, eager to welcome the modern day barbershop addition to the already successful Matthew Morris house of hair.

The MENSDEPT acts as a salon within a salon that aims to reinstate the lost art of a traditional grooming experience for men, one too often replaced by convenient, style-less chop shops, where a man pops in only because his girlfriend told him to get a trim.

Matthew Morris and The MENSDEPT offer a time-honored approach to sprucing up at an affordable price (haircuts begin at $30), bringing back the old-school class and charm of masculine grooming without the metro-sexual undertones.

Here, men (and boys) can get a cut with style, bask in a hot shave, book a skincare facial, get their handlebar or duck-tail properly groomed and their gray hair blended.

Matthew Morris, right, poses with one of his master groomers. Francie Swidler, The Denver Post

Taking it a step further, the MENSDEPT will also have personal styling services available, grooming and styling products for sale, a VIP membership, and will even offer their clients red wine, root beer, or an ice cold brew-ski served in a frosted mug.

The concept is not far off from a personal concierge inside a very refined man-cave.

The party thrown in honor of the collaboration between Matthew Morris and MENSDEPT was a perfect reflection of this man revolution, with the night featuring an open bar, used football field turf as a runway, bleachers instead of chairs, Matthew Morris-branded mason jars, and tasty bites from chef Dylan Moore of Deluxe and Juanita’s Eat across the street.

After speeches from a gallantly-dressed Morrris, Rob Wilcox, senior vice president of marketing, and Jordan Holloway, creative director of MENSDEPT, the all-male, devastatingly handsome fashion show began.

Each collection was paired with a very specific texturized look from Morris’s master groomers. The hair looks teamed with Fancy Tiger were clean and tailored like Don Draper, while the others were matched with more messy coiffures.

Francie Swidler, The Denver Post

The final designer to show was baskit, where hair took a backseat to underwear, and where the underwear took a backseat to the men modeling the pieces. Some of the women in the front row could barely contain themselves when the baskit men came marching down the turf, and ended up helping a few of the models to leave with more dollar bills than they came with.

It was one of the best parties I’ve ever been to in Denver on a Saturday night, and with a killer crowd. I interacted with real male models. There was more than one champagne toast. The salon gave out travel makeup bags, as guests were leaving. And Matthew Morris kissed my cheek.

Visit the MENSDEPT inside the Matthew Morris salon at 13 S. Broadway, or make an appointment at 303-715-4673.